


Seven Year Ache

by SerStolas



Series: Rebelcaptain Selkie AUs [2]
Category: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Draven is an asshole, F/M, Folklore, Reunions, Selkies, Why Did I Write This?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-06
Updated: 2018-11-07
Packaged: 2019-08-19 22:20:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,017
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16543379
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SerStolas/pseuds/SerStolas
Summary: Once, Cassian and his Selkie wife had been happy, living together in the small village of Yavin.  But then the war had reared it's ugly head, and Jyn had been banished back to the sea.  Years later, peace has been restored and Cassian lives alone in the village, spending a part of each night watching the sea.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Sooo, I went and started writing another Selkie Rebelcaptain AU.

The sound of a fiddle and simple drums filled the tavern as Cassian Andor crossed from the door to the bar where his friends were gathered. In late autumn the familiar warmth of the tavern was a welcome thing, one that many people sought against the gray and rainy night. Patrons would spend a few hours here after the work day was done, talking to friends, eating, and drinking, then would reluctantly head back into the cold for their own homes.

As Cassian reached the bar and took a stool beside Bodhi Rook, Han Solo slid a mug of mulled cider to him and gave him a friendly nod before during his attention to other patrons coming up to order drinks. When Cassian drank in the fall, it was always the same thing, and Han never bothered to ask for his order these days.

Bodhi greeted him with a slap on the back, in mid conversation with Wedge Antilles and Luke Skywalker. Cassian was happy to sit and watch quietly as he drank his cider. His friends never expected much conversation from him these days. The civil war was over, and the thing that had driven Cassian to fight since the day his parents had been killed when he'd been six was gone. He'd settled into the quiet life of a lighthouse keeper, working with his fellow former soldier and oldest friend, Kay, keeping the light burning in the night, warning ships away from the rocks that guarded the cove that protected Yavin.

Some where surprised that Cassian was still so willing to live near the sea after what had happened to his wife, but Bodhi swore that Cassian had saltwater running through his veins, and only death could tear Cassian from the sea.

Bodhi knew, privately, the personal reasons that Cassian insisted on taking the position of lighthouse keeper, and why the former soldier continued to keep his eyes on the sea every night.

"Cassian, is Kay up at the lighthouse tonight then?" Wedge asked as he finished a line of thought with Luke and Bodhi. 

Cassian gave a slight nod, taking another sip of cider, though he could see from Wedge's expression that his older friend was looking for an actual verbal answer for once. Cassian sighed internally. "Kay told me he'd have my hide if I didn't take a night off."

"He complains sometimes that you don't let him take duty enough," Luke noted. "Live a little, Cassian, you almost never leave the lighthouse unless you absolutely have to."

Cassian merely shrugged, and Bodhi shot Luke a warning look.

Wedge and Luke knew that Cassian's wife had gone missing seven years ago, but they didn't know the circumstances behind it. They thought Jyn had drowned. They didn't know she was a Selkie and had been banished back to the sea when Cassian's Commander at the time, one General Draven, had found Jyn's skin, and knowing Selkie lore, had literally forced the skin into Jyn's hands. Powerless to stop the call of the sea, Jyn had slipped back into the ocean in agony.

Bodhi never had liked Draven. He'd heard that the man had been shoved into some dusty position in the Capital, thank the gods, where he could do little harm now, and that had come directly from Lady Organa Solo, Han's wife and their local Lady.

Since the end of the war, Bodhi had begun captaining his own fishing vessel, often going out with Wedge and Luke. The life of a fisherman wasn't glamorous, but it was his choice, and a far cry from captaining a freight vessel as he had at under the False King durning the civil war, before he'd defeated and joined the Rebellion. He enjoyed his life here in Yavin, and out on the sea.

"Eh, Cassian's just not one to spend a lot of time out and about, Luke-love," Wedge told his husband. "If he wants to stay in reading books by the fire when he isn't manning the light, let him. 'Sides, it means more beer for us."

Cassian shot Wedge a faint smile at the comment. Wedge didn't know the real story behind Jyn's disappearance, but he understood Cassian's grief well enough. 

"It'll be another day before we go back out, mind if I come for a visit tomororw?" Bodhi asked Cassian. 

Cassian knew immediately why Bodhi was asking to come visit the lighthouse tomorrow. The reason, the date, would be forever ingrained upon Cassian's mind. 

Tomorrow was the anniversary of Jyn's exile into the sea. 

When Jyn had been reunited with her skin, originally stolen by the false Lord Krennic, she could have vanished back into the sea as Selkies were wont to do, but instead, Jyn had chosen to stay with the Rebellion. In fact, she had taken her skin and given it to Cassian for safe keeping. For a Selkie, that meant she was giving up her freedom and the sea for him, it was the most sacred way a Selkie could show their mortal beloved their love. 

Cassian and Jyn had been married by Leia that same day.

But there'd still been a civil war going on, and while Jyn had been instrumental in many ways in helping the Rebellion, General Draven felt that she was a distraction for Cassian, formerly one of Draven's best intelligence officers. Through trickery, Draven had discovered where Cassian had hidden Jyn's skin, and while Jyn, Cassian, and Bodhi had been on a mission, the selkie's skin had been stolen yet again. Upon their return to the hidden Rebel camp, Draven had thrown the skin at Jyn, literally.

Cassian shut his eyes a moment, recalling the look of agony and heartbreak on his wife's face. She was a selkie, and upon the return of her skin, she had no choice but to answer the call of the sea, and be banished from land and human form. The heartrending cry that his wife had given as she'd slipped back into the water haunted Cassian's dreams at night, and he remembered the sheer, raw fury and pain he'd felt and directed at Draven that day.

The former General was lucky that his best officer hadn't killed him that day. Leia had removed Draven from his position as General immediately upon finding out the man's actions. Bodhi, Han, and Chewie had spent days searching for Jyn along the shore, but to no avail.

Cassian had thrown himself into the remainder of the war like a man with a death wish, and only Bodhi and Kay's timely intervention had saved his life the last time.

"Please," Cassian found himself saying.

Bodhi nodded silently, gripping Cassian's arm a moment before he let his hand drop.

During the exchange, one of the bar maids slipped up to the group, offering to refill drinks, nevermind that Han and Chewie were feet away behind the bar, and subtly tried to flirt with the group. Wedge and Luke merely shrugged at her, happily married to each other, and Bodhi frowned faintly. Cassian ignored her completely.

As she sighed and returned to her rounds, Luke peered with some mild curiosity at Cassian. "You really are oblivious, aren't you?" he asked in a light tone. "It's been seven years, hasn't it? You cou-"

"Luke," Bodhi hissed, elbowing his friend.

Luke stopped abruptly, and flushed faintly. "Sorry," he murmured.

"There is no one else but Jyn," Cassian said softly, lifting his brown eyes to meet Luke's gaze. "There never will be anyone else, Luke." At that, Cassian drained his cider and rose. He nodded politely to the three men. "Have a good evening." Without another word, he shouldered on his coat and slipped back out the door, knowing his drink with Han was already covered by money he and Kay had put down at the beginning of the month.

Cassian walked silently through the misty night back towards the hill where the lighthouse sat.

Somewhere, on the dark sands of the beach, a seal lifted it's head from the rest of its colony, and watched.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Leia Organa Solo has counted each of the years since Jyn Erso was banished to the sea. It's been seven years since Draven stole her skin and threw it at her, separating Jyn from her beloved Cassian. Like Cassian, Leia has watched the sea for each of those seven years, waiting patiently.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As a few of my readers have guessed, I just can't leave the story where it ended in chapter one, so here is a continuation. Thank you so much to those who have read and kudoed or commented. I hope you enjoy this continuation.
> 
> I was planning to write this later this month after I finished my latest class, but I wrote this instead of working on my research paper instead :p

She moved quietly through the darkness. She rose and dressed, pressing gentle lips to her husband's cheek before she gathered the pack she had made up the night before. He awoke briefly, his eyes meeting hers, surprised for a moment, then a look of understanding. He gave her a familiar, rakish grin and wished her luck before rolling over to go back to sleep.

Leia Organa Solo smiled with wry amusement as she left the manor house she shared with Han and made her way through the streets of Yavin. Few were out in the streets before dawn, mostly fisherman who were making their way towards the docks and their ships. They nodded to their Lady, but none seemed to find it strange that the Lady of Yavin was walking through the gray of pre-dawn. The truth was they had seen their lady make this trip a thousand times before, walking through the streets of Yavin and towards the coast. Few knew why she chose to walk the beaches before dawn so often, but she was known to be eccentric, even for all her poise and grace, and it had never hurt anyone, so they never stopped her.

Her steps lead her to the rocky shores that ran beyond the village proper, towards the cliffs that rose above the crashing waves, and the sea caves contained within.

Leia had spent the past seven years watching, patiently waiting for this dawn, and she was well prepared.

The looks of anguish etched on the expressions of Jyn Erso and Cassian Andor had never left Leia's mind. She had told Cassian once not to give completely into despair and that someday a wrong might be righted.

But few people believed in legends these days, even with the appearance of a Selkie on their doorstep. Leia knew that Cassian both hoped and feared what the legends said about Selkies. He knew of the seven year span, but he also knew that tales of Selkies and mortals often ended in heartbreak, and while he wanted to hope, he was afraid to.

Leia could not blame him for that. Bodhi had voiced it form them once. That they knew the tales said a selkie would be banished to the sea for seven years, but the tales never said what happened after that, and what if all that could happen was that the cycle would begin again. Cassian had lost Jyn once and it had nearly killed him. He would never love another, but he also feared the thought of losing her again.

But Leia was crafty. She'd done her research, and that research had given her hope, a hope that made her tell Cassian with the passing of each year not to give up.

She stepped into one of the many caves the ocean had carved into the cliffs, the relentless waves of full moon tides hollowing out this place over the millennia. Leia knew this cave would not flood at high tide, that is why she had chosen it.

She set her lamp and the pack she carried on the ground and settled into the small nest of furs she'd built here, and waited.

Slowly the sun rose outside, creeping over the horizon. Dawn's light began to filter into the cave. Leia could hear the barking of seals outside the cave as they moved down the beach. The barking grew louder as the local colony settled outside the cave, but did not venture in. Then she heard it, the soft sound of a heavy body on rocky sand, dragging itself into the cave. A faint smile flickered over Leia's lips as the single gray-brown seal settled itself on the wave smoothed rock before her. 

The seal's fur shifted, splitting, until it revealed a short woman no taller than Leia herself, with dark curly hair and determined green eyes. She smelled of brine, salt water drifting off her bare skin and her pelt as she stood.

Leia let out the breath she'd been holding and pulled a simple pair of trousers, shirt, and underthings from the pack. The green eyed woman gave her a weary smile and dressed quickly. Then she stood, regarding Leia with a determined glint. "Where is he?"

"They're at the lighthouse," Leia replied. 

The green eyed woman gave a relieved sight, and let Leia pull her into a welcoming hug. "We will catch up, tomorrow perhaps," Leia told her firmly. "Go. He waits for you. He will always wait for you."

The first smile that Leia had seen on the woman's lips in seven years flickered over her expression, and she squeezed Leia's shoulder, then turned and walked towards the beach, the barking of seals accompanying each step.

~~ ~~

Bodhi sat with Cassian at the kitchen table, watching Cassian stubbornly as the other man finished the last of his toast and took a short sip of tea. Bodhi had been here since before dawn, watching over Cassian and making sure he ate and drank. Kay had left Bodhi in charge of Cassian for the day, trusting that the other man would see Cassian through the difficult anniversary.

"Seven years," Cassian said softly.

"Seven years," Bodhi agreed. "Leia said the exile was only for seven years, Cassian."

"But that's no guarantee she can come back to me, Bodhi," Cassian replied. "I can hope she will walk through that door, but unless we hide her skin very well, do we know she can stay?"

Bodhi's gaze narrowed at his friend. "Cassian, you have never been a man to simply give up."

"Seven years is a long time, Bodhi."

"You won't give up, I know you won't," Bodhi argued back, his voice firm. "Some part of you still hopes she can come back and she can stay."

Cassian's fingers curved around the tea cup, and he stared into the dark liquid. 

All he wanted was his wife back. Any sacrifice was worth it. Even if it meant that she could only come back for awhile, and would have to return to the sea again at some point, Cassian had always sworn that he would wait for her. Cassian knew he would wait for Jyn forever. But on today of all days, his heart felt weary. Today was the seventh's anniversary of her forced exile. When did that mean that she could return? Today, tomorrow, months from now? The legends had never been terribly precise.

"Get up, Cassian, and walk down to that beach," Bodhi growled at him.

Cassian took in a deep breath, and let it out. He rose shakily from the table as Bodhi watched, and turned towards the door. One step, then two, one foot placed in front of the other. Bodhi watched as Cassian's steps carried him to the front door, and then through it, and down the winding path towards the steps carved into the cliffs that lead down to the beaches beyond.

The sun had already risen, weak rays of yellow shining down from a blue green sky as Cassian walked down the stone steps to the beach. He'd done this every year for six years prior, knowing that Jyn would not be waiting for him at the bottom. Bodhi and Leia insisted that he had to do it for the seventh. His eyes were trained on the steps in front of him, his grief-weary heart unable to bring him to draw his gaze up, even as he reached the rock littered shore. 

He heard the sound of seals barking in the distance, a common enough sound around here. He closed his eyes and lifted his head, taking in the scent of the salt air.

He heard the sound of bare feet on wet sand.

Gently, arms wrapped around him, tugging his face gently down, warm lips that tasted of brine meeting his own. Tears, the same composure of the sea, slipped down his cheeks as some part of him told him this was only a dream.

"Cassian, my Cassian," her soft voice filled his ears, made him feel drunk on memory. Finally his eyes opened. Brown met green. His arms enclosed her in his embrace, and he pressed his face into the beautiful curve of her neck and wept tears of joy.

"Jyn, my heart, my green eyes," he whispered against her mineral encrusted skin. "How I have missed you."

They stood locked in each other's embrace for minutes, or perhaps hours. Leia looked on from down the beach, and Bodhi from the stairs. There were gentle smiles of the watchers lips as they saw the lovers reunite.

Jyn's laughter filled the air like bells. "Never again will we be parted," she told Cassian as she captured his lips again. "After the seven years, I am free to make my choice, and I choose to stay with you."

Cassian's heart beat a staccato in his chest. "Your skin?"

Jyn's eyes danced. "I researched, while I was gone, my people told me the rules. After the seven year exile, if I choose to return to you, we are free. I can keep my skin. I can slip it on and swim in the sea, but I can also return to you." She cupped his chin in her hands. "If I choose to do this, my life will be shortened to a mortal span, to match yours. And I will do so willingly, gladly, if you will still have me, Cassian."

A smile of blinding joy crossed Cassian's face. "I will always choose you, Jyn, I will always want you by my side."

High above them, the gulls cried in celebration, and down the beach, the barking and braying of the seals joined in, as if the animals themselves celebrated with the reunited couple.

Cassian offered Jyn his hand, and she draped her seal skin over one shoulder, and took his calloused and warm palm in her own.

Together, Cassian Andor and Jyn Erso climbed the stairs back up towards the lighthouse, reunited after a long seven years, the ache in their hearts finally eased forevermore.


End file.
